Arvin Shandiz, 27, and Alexandria Williams, 28, met on a flight of a certain U.S.-based airline two years ago, so when Shandiz decided to pop the question, he did it at 32,000 feet, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. He had made arrangements with the same certain airline to use the intercom, and it agreed, probably knowing that events like this have a way of filtering out in news reports around the world and are better for the image than new bag fees. "Good evening, my name is Arvin, and I'm on this flight with a beautiful young lady I met almost two years ago flying (certain airline) … Alex, you're the most beautiful girl in the world and you make me so incredibly happy … would you marry me?" She did the requisite crying and said yes. When they landed, the certain airline had decorated the gate and offered the couple a free honeymoon package.

Duct tape: It fixes (almost) everything

A Ryanair flight from Essex, England, to Latvia turned around soon after takeoff when a recent repair looked like it could be trouble. It landed safely. That's the last thing here that will allow you any semblance of confidence in air travel, so read on at your peril. . . . The problem was that a fix on the seal around the cockpit's windshield seemed to be coming loose. Weird, usually duct tape sticks to everything. A Ryanair spokesman assured that the airline operates under all approved safety standards, though duct tape to hold in the windshield isn't specifically mentioned in handbooks. But really, what's the worst that could have happened? "The pilot could have been sucked out mid-air if the window had come off," former pilot John Guntrip told the Sun. Oh.

Animal kingdom

Former TV star rats up for adoption

A lot of groups do charity work spaying and neutering dogs and cats. An instructor and students at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, Calif., wanted to be different. So after watching an episode of Hoarders in which 1,500 rats were taken from a home, they decided to do the procedures on a few of the rescued rats in hopes of making them more adoptable, reports the San Jose Mercury News. "They're incredibly sweet, social and very smart," said Sandy Gregory, the instructor. Aww.

Police reports

No arrest for you, Orlando

Orlando Robinson, 28, was trying to convince police in Orland, Calif., that he had been bad. On Saturday, he walked into the precinct and asked to be arrested because he had nowhere to live, according to the Chico Enterprise-Record. Police said he hadn't done anything wrong, which sounds like an unfortunate challenge. Robinson said he was on parole and showed them his ankle monitor. So he sat down and started to tamper with the monitor, which could have got him arrested. But police learned he wasn't on parole anymore, so the monitor was really just clunky jewelry that he could take off anytime. Police informed him about area shelters.

Compiled from Times wire services and other sources by staff writer Jim Webster, who can be reached at jwebster@sptimes.com.